Day 3 – (August 24th, 2014)

I woke up beside myself with self-loathing because my beloved Bertha had once again gone missing. This time, I only had my own stupidity to blame. Well stupidity and many, many pints of Guinness.

At this point I let all the possible options run through my brain and think of the most likely scenario that will reunite me with Bertha (or at least the complete version of her). Luckily I made business cards for the trip with detailed information about this website, my email address and Instagram accounts. Being the proud and shameless over-sharing individual that I am, I passed them out throughout the night when people asked how they could follow the trip. If the luck of the Irish was still on my side, someone could possibly contact me over the next few days.

Still, I did not want to leave anything to chance and I tried fruitlessly to rack my brain on other possibilities to get into contact with that merry Irish bunch. Considering I had no one’s contact information outside of their first names, some occupations, and life stories, I started searching Facebook using all of the stalking techniques I have picked up over the years.

Unfortunately, the spellings of Irish names are so unique and all over the place that I was at a loss. For example, I knew Sinead’s brother’s name was Colin (at least it sounded that way) but it very easily could have been Collum, Colm, Collin, you get the point. Next, I knew he was a doctor in the area so I started searching for all doctors in Clare County with some variation of that first name. I even called 4 of them that could be matches to no avail.

Finally, I called 10 of the most popular bus charter companies in the area after I scoured through all the photos I took the previous day to see if I could find the name of the charter anywhere. Again, this was a fruitless endeavor.

Dejected, I gave up my search after 4 or 5 hours and pinned my hopes of continuing my trip on the kindness of the Irish. Considering how wonderful and generous everyone has been to this point, I liked my chances but was still frustrated with myself.

At this point, I knew that I had exhausted my personal capabilities to find Bertha, so I just needed to let go and enjoy the next few days without worrying too much about her. Shortly after this realization, I started chatting with a friend I met earlier in the day at the hostel. She is a South African living in London named Holly and doesn’t know anyone in Ennis like myself so we decide to grab dinner and a few drinks. After a few drinks, we meet up with a few Americans she met on a tour bus earlier in the day. What could have been a night of sulking and self-deprecating turns into one of merriment as we once again jump from bar to bar in search of the best live music and the most savage craic.

The night goes later than expected considering I want to get to Shannon airport before Jason Diggs arrives so that I can drop off a few bags in their storage area before he and I tour Ireland together.

In partnership with Virtue Bike of San Diego, the limited edition VeloGrinds Lightning Bolt combines the most versatile frame & fork on the market with the color scheme of the best uniforms in sports, The San Diego Chargers. With a unique horizontal rear dropout and derailleur hanger system, this frame is capable of running a traditional geared setup, an internal geared hub, or a single speed / fixed gear. Some other highlights include:

Rationale & Rough Review of Route

I have always loved physical and emotional challenges that promote a deeper understanding of yourself and the world around you. Therefore when TJ Edwards subtly pressured me to come to Ireland for his wedding with the 3 simple words "Dean is coming," I booked a one-way ticket with the thought of making my way through Europe to see my family in Denmark. Never-mind that only days later Dean told me he was not going nor was ever planning on it, I started putting the plans in place to make the adventure happen.

After looking into how expensive and cliché it would be to make the trip via a EuroRail pass, I decided I had to practice what I preach regarding 2 wheels being the most rewarding and empowering way to travel.

So, with a month until the wedding, I built my dream bicycle which I have named BERTHA (I have detailed everything regarding this dream machine on the so-named title page). She is more built for comfort than speed, but I am not looking to win any races on her, just need a sturdy machine to power me across Europe in style.

After the wedding in Ireland I fly to London with the intention of only maintaining a rough sketch of where I am going next in order to allow myself to get lost in a city, country, or region I fall in love with. Below is the forever mutable outline of the places I need to see:

London to Newhaven

Ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe

Dieppe to Paris

Paris to Bruges

Through Belgium into the Netherlands

Amsterdam (for however long it takes haha)

Along the North Sea canal system into Germany

Hamburg

Due north into Denmark

Visit family farms along Danish peninsula

Stay with cousins in Arhus

Copenhagen

???

I anticipate the journey to last 2 months over 1,500 miles but that is just an estimate at best. Aided with an unlocked iPhone 5, local SIM card to power Google Maps, portable power source, maps, and only my necessary belongings, I hope to remain in one piece along the way.

For those of you worried about my stuff, don't worry its all insured through USAA so if sh*t happens I'm covered and can get back on the road. For those of you worried about my life, well that is insured too through Northwestern Mutual (thanks Tom Hammett), and while I by no means have a death wish, my view on life is perfectly summed up by the mercurial Hunter S Thompson:

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”